Flaming Nora

To the theatre this week to see two one-act Pinter plays, both starring Gina McKee. Not only is Gina a fellow Mackem but she's one of my most favourite actresses. I've loved watching her ever since she starred in Our Friends in the North . I was told to expect lots of... ...pauses in the Pinter play and he didn't disappoint.

I've been writing Coronation Street Weekly Updates for th'internet since 1995. The latest weekly update has just gone live here and you can read it if you'd like to but there's no obligation, oh no. This week the update wears its white stilletos with pride.

Spent Sunday night at the London Palladium watching the most stunning gig as Alison Moyet took the stage. The picture of Alison here was taken by a chap called David, a fellow Moyet fan who posted some pictures of the gig online. I've grown up with Alison Moyet's music providing the soundtrack to my life. To see her on stage, again, was, well, I'm still smiling and that says it all. Her cover of Momma Momma as an encore almost had me in tears. Watch it live here . Roll on June when Yazoo hit London again. Yes, I've got me tickets already.

It's January, it's cold and it's wet. There's not much to do in the garden this time of year except to wait for green shoots to pop out of the ground. Here's a couple of pics from the garden taken today. The one above shows our bird box surrounded by Clematis Freckles and the second shows crocus around the bottom of the apple tree. Oh yes, Flaming Nora does Naming Flora.

Regular readers(*) will know I'm a laydee who likes a drop of real ale every now and then. If you didn't know, you can read more on me waxing lyrical about the merits of good beer here in Fancy a Fruity Blonde ? and I profess my love of beer here . And so, as you can imagine, I'm over the moon to discover there's a blog for girls just like me, it's called the Girl's Guide to Beer Blogspot, written by Melissa Cole, who has my dream job. She's a freelance beer writer and a Guild of Beer Writers committee member. (*)you lovely, lovely people.

I've been writing Coronation Street updates for th'intenet each week since 1995 (gave or take the odd week off for good behaviour). The latest weekly update has now gone live here . This week the update comes with a bottle of Kalms but, sadly, no Vera Duckworth.

There's a man on the telly who insists we're having a credit crunch. Have you had yours? I'm not sure I've had mine and I feel somewhat left out. Even better, I'd like to know what one is. I think I heard my credit credit squeak a bit when I loaded it up with Chrimbo pressies and it gave a definite sigh of relief when I paid it off in the New Year. But there hasn't been a crunch sound, not yet.

When there's someone in cyberspace Trying to take your place You type tomatoes And so do they Following in your footsteps Wearing your cyber shoes Copying what you do It's creepy and quite scary But kind of flattering too For more of me poems on the blog, have a look here .

After 33 years, Vera Duckworth's gone and died, popped her clogs in her slippers and slipped away from the Street. For a fantastic review of the double episode which sent Vera to her grave, have a look at Nancy Banks-Smith's review from The Guardian . It's almost as good as the episodes itself and brought me to the brink of tears again. By 'eck, Bill Tarmey as Jack did well.

I have now cast my latest Corrie pod at The Soap Show website. You can listen to me in all my glory right here . But only if you'd like to.

There's a wonderful, truly beautiful article in today's Guardian by Tom Hodgkinson on why not to sign up for Facebook. I agreed with nearly every word but especially this sentence. It was almost poetic: We are seeing the commodification of human relationships, the extraction of capitalistic value from friendships . Now then, regular readers will know I'm no fan of Facebook and if you'd like to read it, here's my take on social networking sites: Was it Karl Marx who first coined the phrase commodity fetishism? I think of those two words every time I pass a shop or surf a site selling any kind of add-ons for already blinged-up techy stuff. It’s something I don’t understand and have no desire to buy, but I’m not a complete technophobe. I’m the sort of person who’ll give you a nasty stare if I’m sat next to you on the tube with your swish, bang, swish, swish, bang coming out of your ears and into my space. Did I just say MySpace? Ooh, don’t get me started on social net...

I've been writing Coronation Street Weekly Updates for th'internet since 1995. I'm 102 you know. The latest weekly update has just gone live here . This week's update misquotes from Animal Farm and shows you where the stopcock is.

The first of the spring flowers have made an appearance in the garden. They're early this year. Last year's snowdrops didn't start coming up until later in the month.

Spotted now and then at the bottom of our urban London garden over the years has been a fox. If we were lucky, it might appear once or twice a year during the day, probably looking for food and leaving footprints in the snow - have a look here. Yesterday morning from the kitchen window we saw not one fox, but two. And they weren't lurking at the end of the garden, they were roaming on the lawn and then curled up together to sleep under the apple tree. If I'd managed to get a photo of them, they might have looked something like this, only a bit more scruffy and well, Londonish.

To the flicks this week to see Golden Compass . I'd tried to read the book on which it's based, Philip Pullman's Northern Lights, ages ago and couldn't get my head around daemons and talking polar bears so gave up the book in a strop. So this wasn't my ideal sort of film to sit through but I did so and fairly enjoyed it. If I had to rate it I'd give it 6 out of 10. However, it did prompt me to wonder what my own daemon would be. I'd like a large black furry dog which at a a moment's notice could turn into a ladybird I could store in a matchbox.

I've been writing weekly Corrie updates for th'internet since 1995 and the latest one has just gone live right here. This week's Coronation Street weekly update comes complete with Maria on a mountain top and a chunk of Kendal Mint Cake.

There are some channels in the nether regions of Sky TV which the remote control only finds when we've had too much to drink on a Saturday night or are bored out of our brains and too lazy to do anything but flick the switch and see what's on. Last week, after too much Bailey's Irish Cream and liquor chocolates after Christmas, we came across channel 376 and Bedroom TV. It's not what you think - it's far better - and worse. It's a channel made up of ordinary people (that's you, me and the bloke next door) who have videoed themselves lip synching to songs, and are stars of the channel. I know, it sounds awful - and it is, but it's addictive as hell. The website is here if you want to know more but if you've got Sky, get your remote pointed at 376 now and settle down for a giggle with a big glass of wine.

It's twelfth night so today the Christmas tree was taken down and thrown away for recycling into toilet roll holders or packets of Corn Flakes, who knows? The house looks fresh again, ready for a new year and a new start and the no-drop tree from Homebase we bought in early December kept its promise and hardly dropped any needles at all. I like it when things do as they're supposed.

Ok, it's time for an update on how the novel is progressing. I know that writing this blog post is an excuse not to write any more of the novel for a while but I understand displacement activity is common while writing. This morning my good intentions of writing came to nought when displacement knocked me sideways as I heard the kitchen cry out to be cleaned and the bedroom carpet said it needed to feel the warmth of the Dyson tickle its tufted tum. Word count so far: 6,126. Chapter one is complete and I am right happy.

It's Capital Woman day on Saturday, March 8. Mark the date in your diary and register for your ticket now. If you're a woman and live in London, this is one of the best days in the city. And it's free too.

I've been writing Coronation Street Weekly Updates for th'internet since 1995. The latest update is now live right here . Complete with added nutmeg and a hairy chest.